All Elite Wrestling, LLC has filed several trademarks in the past week or so and the trademarks certainly give more credibility to the rumored wrestling promotion headed by Tony Khan, the co-owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars. For those of you that have not kept up with this story, the rumor is that Jim Ross, Chris Jericho, The Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes, Marty Scurll, Hangman Page and Kenny Omega would be part of the company.

The following trademarks were filed within the last week by All Elite Wrestling, LLC:

Double Or Nothing is the rumored name for the next All In pay-per-view. The idea is to run the show in Las Vegas, NV. There’s been talk of All In 3 happening on Labor Day. Tuesday Night Dynamite could be a sign that they have a weekly TV deal lined up.

According to the trademark filings, All Elite Wrestling, LLC is based out of Jacksonville, FL. That would also align with the rumors about the Khan family being involved.

All Elite Wrestling, LLC is registered to an address at 1 TIAA Bank Field Drive in Jacksonville. That address just happens to be the address of the stadium for the Jacksonville Jaguars. The stadium is owned by Shad Khan.

Jericho has issued a denial but it’s Jericho and you will never get him to confirm a story like this unless he is legally able to and with approval from the owner.

Jim Ross basically gave a semi-denial on his podcast and The Elite has stayed quiet about the rumors. If everything goes as planned, WWE could have a major wrestling company against them. It would be the first major competition for them since WCW died in 2001.

Very interesting, especially if it comes to fruition and they get on a decent tv network. Theres been a gap behind the WWE since WCW went out of business. TNA briefly threatened but it was never sustained. Maybe this will be the new major tenant in the Lot J offices.

I am the lead investor, a supporter and a backer of All Elite Wrestling, and I anticipate great things today and into the future for AEW and everyone who has worked passionately on this week’s launch. I know AEW will be welcomed by wrestling fans here in the U.S. and throughout the world who are ready for something new and authentic. AEW will work hard to deliver on that promise.

As important, I am the father – the proud father – of Tony Khan, who will serve in a leadership role at AEW during the 2019 launch and in the years ahead. Tony will assemble a great team to take AEW over the top, for the benefit of everyone who loves the wrestling industry, while continuing to serve in his current capacities with the Jaguars and Fulham.

AEW will operate as an organization completely independently from my other interests. It will not deter attention or divert resources from any of my businesses, teams, projects or investments. At the same time, AEW will enjoy the same full commitment I given to everything and everyone in my life – my family and friends, my business and, in recent years, to sports, hospitality and now entertainment.

Statement from Tony:

Quote

Wrestling fans are a community unlike most others. I’ve been a part of this community since I was 7 years old, and I can tell you that wresting fans see the world every day through a special lens. We see wrestling in Hollywood films and tv shows, we see elements of wrestling in the presentation of sports and in the marketing of grandiose star athletes, and we certainly see wrestling in politics.

The wrestling community is a constant; its members are diverse, we are physically located on all corners of the planet, yet we are constantly connected. Recently, a new family has formed, bonded by love and respect for wresting but armed with a vision and resources that have never before been available to the wrestling community. Our objective is to connect our community closer than ever before through All Elite Wrestling, or AEW.

AEW does not mean any less of a continued commitment to existing obligations and duties that I have, or my family has, to our business and sports interests. That will never be the case. What’s important is that every individual decision we make as family, whether it’s ownership or investment in a team or property, is 100 percent beneficial to those specific interests. I will always welcome that accountability and responsibility, as nothing is more important than serving our supporters and friends.

AEW will launch with a roster of the top wrestlers in the world. While they’ll clash in what will be some of the most intense and fast-paced contests ever sanctioned in the squared circle, they’ll also share a common goal: to make this the true golden age, to make this the greatest time ever to be a wrestling fan. Likewise, as a business, by treating our wrestlers with respect and warmth, we also seek to make this the golden age for the performers themselves.

Possible press release from Mayor Curry: "We are excited by the inauguration of AEW, and know with members of the Khan Family leading, it will be hugely successful. Toward that end, the City will partner with AEW to construct a state-of-the-art wrestling venue at the Shipyards. We are confident this will be the game changer that will spur unprecedented new development along the riverfront." Accompanied by large color renderings of crystal towers reaching to the sky, happy people walking along the new Riverwalk, and so on.[/cynic mode off]

Hard as it is for some to understand or respect, Wrestling *is* big business.

Agreed.

$80-ish million TV deal with TNT is the rumor.

Half a million people have already streamed the event from the stadium today.

I watched the stream myself, and what I personally find to be the coolest thing about it is that the Khan's are launching a national wrestling company with international talent, off the back of a really successful wrestling event in Chicago earlier this year, yet the rally today (which was streamed all over the world) was so proudly Jacksonville.

Every single performer emphasized how great it was to be in Jacksonville.

The Roar and Jaxon de Ville were involved.

A ton of the talent was wearing custom Jacksonville t-shirts and Jags-themed gear.

They announced that their first two shows major shows would be in Las Vegas and Jacksonville.

Personally, I took it as a really positive sign about how the Khans feel about our city.

I heard there was an issue at the Smackdown Live tapings at the arena last night where those with AEW merch were denied entry. I think it eventually worked itself out but that created a Twitter buzz that only elevated the promotion. Is this a league that Vince McMahon should worry about? Who knows. Nothing has been able to compete to date. WWE is too big and too entrenched. Scoring Jericho was huge, but they will need more. I am interested in the TV deal and how the major events will work. I hear Khan invested around 100 million. That is no small chump change. This could be a game changer. Equal pay for men and women, and openly inclusive of all races and genders. Also full heath care for all the wrestlers is, believe it or not, a game changer Interesting.

I'm usually the sunshine and rainbows guy, but I'm like 50/50 with my concerns on a new wrestling promotion even being anywhere near (or even a tier underneath) the 800 pound gorilla the WWE. Is there alot of money in the wrestling business, if done properly? Yes. Is the currently era of wrestling in it's golden years, akin to Stone Cold Steve Austin's F*CK FEAR DRINK BEER attitude era? NO WAY IN HELL!

There is so much competition within the entertainment business. We are in an era where many people are cutting the cord. That being said, I wish AEW all of the best, and I hope they will be a mainstay in the wrestling business for the foreseeable future. I'm obviously very biased to want the Khans to be successful within all their endeavors.

I'm usually the sunshine and rainbows guy, but I'm like 50/50 with my concerns on a new wrestling promotion even being anywhere near (or even a tier underneath) the 800 pound gorilla the WWE.

Nobody's competing with the WWE, at least not in the short-term. For most people, the WWE *is* wrestling. They're a publicly traded company and a global empire, with billions of dollars in television deals and billions more in recurring revenue from their network.

That said, Khan's AEW can still be very successful by differentiating itself from the cartoonishness carny-ness of the WWE and producing a more athletic, serious, sports-like product. The WWE has such a terrible reputation for how they treat their performers and how they'll happily sell their soul for a buck to produce propaganda for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that I think it's really smart that Khan is presenting his company as a place that takes care of its wrestlers, provides health insurance, pays women equally, will be donating proceeds to causes like gun violence prevention, etc.

The whole philosophy of the company seems to be: if we give best-in-class treatment to our performers and fans, we'll gain new fans, and the world's top performers will want to come work for us.

Will likely be years and years with the best luck possible before they could ever truly compete with the 50-year machine of the WWE, but in the meantime, I think they can happily and successfully be the Elite XC/Strikeforce/Bellator to WWE's UFC, or the Master of None to WWE's Big Bang Theory, or the Taco Lu to WWE'S Taco Bell, if that makes sense.